I Will Protect You
by ssj hotaru
Summary: A brave soul dies preventing an attack on a kingdom of peace. Two men carry the news to the princess. Things happen and the poeple caught in Destiny's clutches have their lives changed forever! please read and reviewthanx
1. prologue

A Promise Kept __

Disclaimer: I don't own GW so don't bother suing me it's just a waste of money!

I Will Protect You

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Prologue

A young blonde boy, barely eighteen, walked slowly along the side walk, his hands in his pockets, his head cast down so he was looking at his shoes. The task at hand weighed heavily on his shoulders, he didn't want to hurt her, but what he had to tell her would surely break her heart. Why had he agreed to do this? He then remembered what his friend had asked of him.

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~*flashback*~

Heero was laying on the ground, blood gushing from a deep gash in his forehead, his legs were twisted in an unnatural way, broken in several places, and his chest caved in on one side. Quatre ran towards him and fell to his knees by his side. "Why didn't you wait!" he cried as he picked Heero's head up in his arms so he could see his face. Duo, Trowa, and Wufei came up behind him and Duo knelt down beside Quatre. 

" I-I had to stop- " he stopped to cough up some blood, his broken ribs had punctured his lung and he was having trouble breathing. "-to stop them" his eyes became unfocused and his mouth gaped open in an effort to breath. 

"Heero!" Duo said. He turned his head to look at Duo but his eyes were still unfocused and he turned to look at Trowa who had just knelt beside Quatre, then looked back at Quatre and then in between them. His eyes rolled back under his eyelids and he blinked to bring them back. He then reached a hand up with great difficulty and reached in between the two pilots.

"Take- take care-" he stopped to let out a dry cough "-take care of Relena" and then his eyes rolled back in their sockets and his hand fell limply to the ground.

"HEERO!!!!!!" Dou screamed, Quatre just sat there looking down at Heero, tears started to fall heavily. 

"No…no…no, you can't be…" he whispered quietly to himself. A hand fell on his shoulder and he looked up to see the grim, sad face of his dearest friend, and Trowa squeezed his shoulder.

"We need to tell Relena" he said quietly and then looked to the ground sadly, tears brimmed his eyes but they did not fall.

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~*end flashback*~

A tear streaked down the blonde's face and again a hand fell upon his shoulder; he looked up into his friends face to see that he had the exact same look of hurt. "Quatre" Trowa whispered concerned. 

"I'm fine" he said. Trowa looked down at him unconvinced, 

"I know how you feel" he said and dropped his hand. 

Quatre looked up at him and smiled sadly "I wonder how she'll take it?" he asked, "with their wedding only a month away, they were finally happy Trowa, God they looked so happy, and now… Heero's dead. How can we tell her? How can we shatter all her dreams?" another tear fell from his eye. 

"It's either us or Duo and Wufei " Trowa said, Quatre wondered why he hadn't let them do it, why he had been so eager to tell her himself, and then he remembered. He wanted to be the one to comfort her, to tell her that she would be alright, that she would get over him in time. He wanted to be the one to make her tears go away and in time to make her smile again, he wanted all that.

These feelings were new to him, he had started feeling them when Relena and Heero had announced their engagement, he had burned with jealousy and yet felt like crying. In a way he was glade Heero was out of the way, and that made him hate himself, the thought that he was even a little happy that a comrade, a very good friend had died, and left him to protect his fiancée made him sick. 

Trowa tapped his shoulder and he looked up at him, "what is it?" he asked, Trowa pointed towards the tall white gates that led to the mansion where Relena lived. 

"We're here" he said emotionlessly and yet Quatre could see the fear in his eyes, the fear of hurting her, but it was quickly pushed aside and covered by his emotionless mask. 

"Let's go in then, the sooner we get this out, the sooner we…" Trowa looked at Quatre as the blonde thought about what to say. They left it at that and started for the gates. 

Dorothy waited for them at the front of the mansion, dressed in a long dark pink dress, but because of the summer heat it was light and hung loosely, not like the school type uniform she'd worn before. "Welcome" She said "Miss Relena is waiting, I have been asked to escort you to her" she curtsied, one hand out to allow them to walk infront. 

She accompanied them to Relena's office, the one in which she had spoke to Quatre and Heero about the search for Trowa. She opened the door and stepped infront of Trowa and Quatre "Miss Relena? Trowa Barton and Quatre Winner are here to speak with you, would you like to see them now?" she asked.

"Yes Dorothy, show them in." Dorothy stepped aside and let Trowa and Quatre by. Relena was staring out the window, then she turned around, a fake smile on her face. "Hello Quatre" she greeted 

"Hello Miss Relena" he answered, with a false smiled to match hers.

"Hello Trowa" He nodded.

"Hello" her smile faded when she looked into their eyes, her's locked on Quatre's and before she even asked he knew what she was going to say. 

"What happened Quatre? Where is Heero?" Quatre visibly flinched when she mentioned Heero, she saw this and her eyes welled up with tears but she didn't let them fall. "Quatre, what happened?" she demanded authoritatively, Quatre opened his mouth to speak but couldn't, he didn't want to be the one to hurt Relena, he tried again but nothing came out. 

"Heero died in battle" Relena's head jerked towards Trowa whom she had forgotten was in the room for a moment. Her eyes darkened, and then brightened in hope, she had been told this before. 

"Are you sure, did you see him die?" she asked, Trowa bowed his head. 

"We saw him die, we were there, he's de-ad" he said as emotionless as ever, but his voice cracked a little when he said he was "dead" as if hearing it for the first time himself.

Relena looked to the floor sadly, she held back her tears though, her small hands clenched into fists at her side. "Thank you Quatre, Trowa, you may leave now" she said in an emotional tone that sent shivers down his spine. Quatre and Trowa quietly exited the room and stood just outside the door with Dorothy.

Relena turned and headed for another door, she opened it and broke out in a run down the hall until she came to another door which she jerked open and then slammed it shut as hard as she could. She jumped as a picture fell off the wall and crashed to the floor, shattering shards of glass at her feet. She let the tears fall freely now, leaning against the door so she wouldn't fall to the floor. 

"He can't be dead…he can't be dead! He can't be!" she looked at the small table next to her with a glass vase full of flowers on it. "NO! HE CAN'T BE!!!!" she screamed, grabbing the vase and throwing it as hard as she could in to the opposite wall where it shattered and the six lavender roses fell to the floor. 

She began throwing stuff around, breaking her large balcony window with the table the vase had been sitting on, she then grabbed her blankets and ripped everything off her bed, comforter, sheets, pillows all of it. She crumpled to the floor and started to bawl, banging her fist helplessly against the thick carpet. "He lied, he lied to me, he lied, HE LIED!!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. 

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~*flashback*~

Relena and Heero were on her balcony staring out at the ocean.

"You have to fight don't you?" she asked, not looking at him, but not seeing the sea either.

"Yes, I have to get there before the reinforcements arrive" he stated calmly

"Shouldn't you tell the others?" 

"No, they'll need to be in top shape for the reinforcements." 

"I understand, are you sure you'll be alright by yourself though?"

"I'll make it out alive" he said with a slight smile.

"Are you sure?" she asked with tears in her eyes

" Relena, I'll come back, nothing can keep me from coming back to you."

"Promise?" she asked with a teary smile

"I promise" he said and then sealed it with a passionate kiss.

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~*end flashback*~

Relena stopped her meaningless abuse of her bedroom carpet and just cried, doubled over with her face buried in her arms. When she had finally gained control of herself, she sat up, her arms encircling her stomach and she remembered why she had been so anxious for her Heero to return. But, it seemed, she would never be able to tell him her little secret, of course that didn't mean every one else wouldn't know, soon this secret would be to big to hide.

End prologue 


	2. chapter 1

I Will Protect You  __

Disclaimer: I don't own GW so don't sue me, I'm doing this purely for your entertainment.

I Will Protect You

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Chapter one

Relena sat up, rubbing her eyes that were now puffy and red, one last tear rolled down her cheek but she quickly whipped it away and got up to go to the kitchen. She glanced up at a clock as she walked passed, and stopped in surprised. "Its midnight" she whispered, "I wonder if Quatre and Trowa are still here?"

She continued walking until she came to the kitchen, and suddenly she got the urge for ice cream and peanut butter. She came out of the kitchen with a large bowl of ice cream with peanut butter and sprinkles over it and a cherry on top.

Something moving on the couch caught her attention and she glanced over to find Trowa. "Trowa, what are you doing down here? I thought you two left" Trowa looked up at her apologetically, then down at the book in his hand.

"I was reading" he said and then swung his legs off the couch so that he was sitting instead of laying down. 

"Oh, sorry if I disturbed you?" Relena said and started to walk away.

"You didn't" Trowa said quietly, though hasty. Relena stopped and looked over her shoulder at him, a sudden dizzy spell hit, not wanting to take a chance of it getting worse, she turned completely around.

"May I sit beside you?" she asked. Trowa looked up at her surprised.

"It's your world" she smiled, although it didn't reach her eyes, and moved to sit beside him.

She made herself comfortable then took a bite of her ice cream, she felt as if some one was watching her and looked up at Trowa who was staring at her, disgusted at what she was eating. 

"So why are you up this late?" she asked trying to get his attention away from her odd snack. 

"I couldn't sleep" he said with a shrug.

"Oh, me neither, how come you couldn't sleep?" 

Trowa looked over at her, absently thinking that she talked to much, and replied.

"I'm always awake at this time" Relena sighed and leaned back, putting the bowl of ice cream on her lap.

"I just can't sleep" she said and glanced over at Trowa who nodded knowingly. 

"You think about him" he stated, her eyes swelled up with tears but she managed to hold them back.

"Yes" she choked out and then closed her eyes so the tears wouldn't fall. 

"He loved you" he said.

Relena's mouth twisted in emotional pain, "I know." 

"He asked us to protect you" Trowa said sadly, remembering the pain in Heero's eyes. A tear escaped before Relena could hold it back, and it streaked it's way down her cheek, she reached up a hand to wipe it away, but Trowa stopped her. "It's alright to cry" he said placing her hand back down on her lap, a few more tears made their way down her cheeks and she closed her eyes again.

Trowa not knowing any other way to comfort her, but uncomfortable just watching, put an arm around her shoulder and gently pulled her head to rest on his shoulder. She looked up at him surprised, but then she turned her face back down to his shoulder and continued to cry. 

Watching her reminded him of Catherine, she had comforted and been there for him, and her care had brought him back to humanity. Now, sitting here with Relena crying on his shoulder, he felt something, a _need_ to protect her, not just because Heero had asked, but because he wanted to, he wanted to protect her like he had wanted to protect Catherine. 

He suddenly had the feeling some one was watching him and hastily looked around. He saw Quatre standing in the door way and sighed, Relena felt it and looked up, quickly wiping the tears away.

"Quatre, hello, I'm sorry did I wake you?" she asked, startled. 

Quatre smiled sweetly at her, "No, I just came down here to talk to Trowa" He replied. 

"Oh, okay…well then, I'll leave you two to talk" she got up reluctantly, a tear fell from her eye and she mumbled under her breath "to many memories," Trowa heard this, knowing exactly what she meant, and spoke up.

"You can sleep in my room?" he suggested. Relena arched an eyebrow and Quatre glared. 

"Where will you be sleeping?" she asked, only a little suspiciously. 

He shrugged, "here." Quatre stopped glaring and smiled slightly.

"Are you sure?" Relena asked "Cause I can-" she was cut off as Trowa nodded, "Thank you" she tilted her head to the side and smiled sweetly at him, then at Quatre, and then back to him. "Well goodnight Trowa, goodnight Quatre" she said and then turned to leave with her bowl of ice cream. 

After Quatre was sure that she was gone he turned to Trowa, "what was that about?" he asked. Trowa shrugged and propped his feet back on the couch, Quatre came over and sat down in a chair across from him. 

"Uh, so, when's the funeral?" Quatre asked after a few minutes of silence, Trowa looked up at him from his book.

"What did you come down here for?" he asked bluntly. Quatre looked startled, but then sighed and Trowa closed his book. 

"I couldn't sleep, I heard Relena come out of her room and decided I'd see what she was doing" he replied. Trowa raised an eyebrow, Quatre saw this and smiled, "I think I'm attracted to her Trowa" he said, Trowa raised both eyebrows, then looked sympathetically at Quatre. 

"This isn't the best times" Quatre shook his head in agreement. 

"No, it's not" and he sighed again. 

Relena walked into one of the guest rooms, the one she guessed was Trowa's because the light wasn't on, and closed the door behind her. She walked over to the bed and laid down, thinking about tomorrow, she had to cancel the wedding, and she would be announcing her leave that she had planed on taking when she got ready to start a family. She wondered who they'd put in her place, but then decided that she wouldn't stop working, she would just work at home, no meetings, no speeches, just paper work. Thinking that she'd sort all this out in the morning she drifted off to a some what peaceful sleep.

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~*the next morning*~

Relena sat up and stretched "what a strange dream" she mumbled, then looked around the room. Realization hit as she realized she wasn't in her own room, "It wasn't a dream" she whispered sadly, tears brimmed her eyes ready to fall. "He's really dead," and she started to cry softly, burying her face in her hands. A few minutes later she wiped her tears away, sniffled, and got up to change. Putting on a sleeveless light green button up shirt and a white short skirt she left to go down to tell Trowa and Quatre what she had come up with last night. 

"Hello Miss Relena" Dorothy greeted at the door, "did you sleep well" she asked in some what of a mocking voice, was that jealousy that she heard? 

Relena pushed her thoughts aside and sighed, absently wondering how Dorothy had known that she was in Trowa's room. "As well as I could" she replied, a sad look coming to her eyes. 

Dorothy looked at her and her face softened a bit, "you have my deepest sympathy Miss Relena." 

Relena forced herself to smile, "Thank you Dorothy" and they walked down the rest of the hall in silence.

On her way to the kitchen Relena's eyes involuntarily wondered to the couch, she was surprised and accidentally giggled out loud. Trowa was laying on the couch asleep, a book over his face and his left arm draped over the book, his right arm hung off the couch and his feet hung over the end. 

Dorothy looked over at the couched and her confused looked melted into a loving smile, along with her suspicion of why Relena had been in Trowa's room. Relena looked over at her and a smile formed on her lips too as she leaned in close to her ear, "wake him up" she whispered. 

Dorothy's face grew red "m-me! I couldn't -I can't-" she stuttered.

"Oh, go on" Relena said pushing her towards Trowa, then she turned and ran onto the kitchen giggling. 

"But…" she protested, but there was no one there to protest to. Dorothy shrugged and placed a confident smile on her lips. "Might as well" she whispered under her breath and walked the rest of the way to the couch.

Relena stood in the door way watching Dorothy, momentarily forgetting all her problems, and smiled widely as the girl closed the rest of the distance between her and sleeping beauty on the couch. 

Dorothy sat on the couch beside Trowa and reached out a hand to tap him on the shoulder; but she snapped her hand back quickly when he moaned and turned his head towards her, knocking the book off his face. 

Dorothy reached her hand back out to touch his hair, to her surprise, it was soft, by the way it always stuck out she figured it would be stiff. She smiled softly. Quatre had been right all those years ago, she was a sweet girl at heart, she just didn't want to show it then. She sighed as he turned again and figured it was time to wake him up; she taped him on the side of his face and his eyes fluttered open and focused on her's. His eyes widened and he sat up abruptly and scooted away from her, giving her a wary glance he stood up from the couch and started to walk away. 

"Good morning Trowa" she said with a fake smile, she had been disappointed at his reaction but then again what had she expected. 

He looked at her sideways "good morning" and then he walked towards his room, most likely to change his clothes.

Relena sighed sadly from the kitchen door and turned away to find herself something to eat when she gasped loudly, startled by the person sitting silently at the table. "Quatre, I didn't know you were-" 

Quatre cut her off by raising his hand, "I came in for some coffee" He said with a smile. "Now, wanna tell me what was so interesting?" he asked with a laugh in his voice. 

"Just Dorothy" Relena replied pulling out a chair and sitting down, Quatre pushed a cup of coffee in her direction but she set it aside. He raised an eyebrow but brushed it off and asked.

"What was she doing?"

Relena shrugged, "I just asked her to wake Trowa up" 

Quatre looked curious, "why was that so exciting?" she smiled and leaned across the table closer to Quatre. 

"Don't tell her I told you, but I think Dorothy's attracted to Trowa" Quatre's eyes widened slightly.

"How do you figure?" he asked. 

"When I told her to wake him up she blushed and what I just saw out there gives me good reason" she told him and then sat back down. "Remember, don't tell anyone, I don't want to embarrass Dorothy, and if I'm wrong… well just don't tell anyone" 

Quatre smiled, "don't worry Miss Relena" Relena smiled and shook her head.

"Just call me Relena" she said. 

"But…" Relena cut him off.

"Please Quatre, as a friend" he smiled and nodded. Relena smiled too, then got up and made herself some warm tea before sitting back down; Quatre looked at her strangely and then eyed the cup of coffee beside her. 

"Don't feel like coffee?" he asked.

"Hn?" she looked over at him confused then down at the cup of coffee he had offered her. "Oh" she smiled "nah, I don't feel like coffee this morning." They sat in silence, Quatre staring at Relena wondering what was up, and Relena staring at her cup praying to God he didn't suspect anything. 

Finally Quatre spoke up, "your taking all this rather well" Relena looked up at him surprised then back down at her cup.

"What do you mean?" she asked, hoping he didn't mean what she thought he meant. 

"Heero's death," he stated as though it should have been obvious. Relena sighed with relief inside, but on the outside, tears automatically sprung to her eyes at the mention of his name. 

"Well he wouldn't want me feeling sorry for myself" she said sadly "I need to be strong" Quatre was about to say something when Trowa walked in.

Gesturing with a flick of his head Trowa signaled that he wanted to talk to him, Quatre nodded and looked back at Relena. "Please excuse me " he said standing up. 

"Of course" she said smiling, and Quatre followed Trowa out of the room. 

She sniffled and suppressed the unshed tears, not giving them a chance to fall. _Why…why? _She asked herself, then pushed all thought from her mind and focused on drinking her tea.

Trowa led Quatre towards the hangar, "Trowa, what did you want to tell me?" he asked.

Trowa turned to look at him, "They found the cockpit." he replied. 

Quatre looked at him seriously, "Is it in tact?" Trowa nodded, "okay thanks, I'll go check it out, could you go keep an eye on Relena for me?" he asked. 

Trowa raised an eyebrow, "think she's gonna commit suicide or something?" he asked.

Quatre sighed, "I don't know, I just think she's to calm, I mean who knows what's going through her head, it's better safe than sorry right?" he said, covering up his worry with a small smile. 

Trowa shrugged, "Maybe she was expecting it" he stated and then turned around and left, leaving Quatre to ponder what his friend had just said. 

Quatre promised himself he'd asked Trowa about it later and turned to go and check out zero's cockpit. He climbed inside and visions haunted his mind's eye as he remembered the time he had sat in this very seat and tried to kill Trowa and Heero. Tears sprung to his eyes, but he quickly suppressed them and cleared his mind, he couldn't have distractions right now, he _had_ to know! More like he wanted to know. Zero had shown Heero something to make him pick him and Trowa as Relena's protectors over his best friend Duo, _what was it?_ He prayed this would work.

He activated the zero system, and closed his eyes as the inside of the cockpit glowed yellow, clearing his mind for his question, he opened his eyes and stared at the screen. _Zero, please show me what you showed Heero before he died?_ He thought and suddenly he doubled over in the pilot seat as a tremendous head ache over took him, he clenched his teeth together, forcing himself not to cry out. He didn't remember this when he had been in zero? Suddenly the visions came, and Quatre learned the reasons why Heero had picked him and Trowa, but just as quickly they went and all Quatre's questions had been answered. He knew why Relena had said she had to be strong, he knew why she was trying to be calm, he knew why she wouldn't drink the coffee, and most importantly he knew why Trowa had been asked to protect her. Quatre envied Trowa, but it wasn't his fault, he sighed defeated and turned to leave the hangar, heading to his room.

Relena looked up and quickly wiped away the tears that had some how resurfaced when she heard the door to the kitchen open. She stared into the deep emotionless green eyes of Trowa Barton and smiled sweetly, gesturing with her hand for him to sit down. He complied, giving her the slightest nod, "where's Quatre?" she asked.

Trowa looked at her, "he had something he wanted to look at" he stated quietly. Relena sighed, she wanted to tell them her idea but she wanted to tell them both, she had to wait until Quatre got done, she sighed again. 

She glanced up as she felt his eyes on her and gave him a small smile before looking back at her still full glass of now lukewarm tea. _Why did he have to die? _She questioned silently _he survived worse situations, why couldn't he live through this one damnit! _She sighed again, and her eyes filled with tears. _I guess I'm just destined to be alone, _she jumped when the chair beside her was pulled out. She jerked her head towards the new occupant of the room, a solitary tear flying from her eye, she blinked a few times to suppress them and make her vision less blurry so that she could make out the person now sitting beside her. 

"Dorothy" she greeted, forcing another smile, Dorothy looked at her and smiled back, then frowned slightly as the door to the kitchen opened and Quatre walked in. Relena turned her head and her smile widened as she saw him, "Quatre, good now we're all here!" she said happily, ignoring the nauseous feeling that suddenly came over her. 

"Is there something you want to tell us miss Relena?" Dorothy asked, Relena nodded.

"I have something to say also" Quatre said, looking at Relena. She swallowed uncomfortably, his eyes held so much untold emotion. She resisted the urge to turn her head away and said almost mechanically.

"You first" Quatre smiled and turned away to look at Trowa and Dorothy apologetically. 

"I just received a call from Rasheed, there's been an emergency, so I'll be leaving right away" he said, a guilty look on his face. Relena stood up and walked over to Quatre and gave him a hug, "you're welcomed to come back Quatre" she said, Quatre hugged her back. 

When he moved to break the embrace, Relena's hands tightened as if trying to keep her balance and then she suddenly went limp in his arms. Quatre looked up at Trowa panicked, "she's passed out" he said, worry making itself evident on his face. Trowa stood up from the table and helped Quatre take Relena from the kitchen and lay her down on the couch; Dorothy followed. 

Quatre felt Relena's head checking for some kind of a fever, "Normal," he said quietly, then checked her pulse "a little fast but normal," he sighed, then looked at Trowa who was looking at him. "Probably stress" he suggested, Trowa nodded in agreement, although Quatre swore he had a look that accused him of knowing that that wasn't why she'd past out. Quatre shook it off, telling himself that he was seeing things, why would Trowa suspect that he knew anything. 

Trowa looked at Quatre suspiciously, he had the feeling that he was hiding something, after thinking about it he brushed it off, this was Quatre, if he had any idea what was wrong with Relena he would surely have told them right? He found himself doubting how well he knew his friend but brushed that aside as well. "I need some water" Trowa said softly.

Quatre looked to Dorothy who was standing beside him, "Could you please?" he asked, Dorothy nodded and ran into the kitchen, coming back a few minutes later with a glass of water. 

She handed it to Trowa who dipped his fingers in it and flicked the cold liquid on Relena's face. She stirred and slowly opened her eyes "Trowa?" she whispered weakly as she focused on his face. She sat up on her elbows and looked to her side to see Quatre and Dorothy, she shifted her weight and ran a hand threw her hair. "What happened?" she asked looking at their worried expressions, with the exception of Trowa who just, looked blank. 

"You fainted Relena," Quatre said, "mind telling us why?" 

Relena looked scared for a fraction of a second before covering it up with a confused look, "Why would I know" she asked. 

Quatre shrugged "Just thought I'd ask" he said "it's most likely just stress, I suggest you take a rest. "

She put a fake smile on her face. "You know" she replied "how strange, I was just thinking about taking a rest, there's this secluded cabin up in the forest." 

Quatre smiled his sweet innocent smile, "That sounds like a perfect place to take a rest" he said. 

"Miss Relena, a limousine has arrived and is waiting out front for Mr. Winner" a house maid informed her. Relena looked over at her.

"Thank you Sheryl" she said with a smile, the middle aged woman smiled back, bowed her head, and then went back to what ever she had been doing before. 

Quatre looked down at Relena, who was still sitting on the couch, and smiled, "I guess it's time for me to go" he said. 

Relena looked sad and reached up to hug him again, "Remember Quatre, you can come back and visit anytime" she said and moved away to stand up. Her action was stopped by two hands on her shoulders, she turned to see Trowa just before he pushed her back onto the couch. 

"You're not going anywhere" he said quietly but firmly.

Relena pouted, "But…" she started but he cut her off with a glared.

Quatre's smile faltered but he managed to hold it in place, he put a hand on Relena's shoulder when Trowa removed his hands, confident that she would stay in her place. She looked up at him and smiled a small apologetic smile, "It's best that you sit for awhile Relena" he said patting her on the shoulder," she looked down at her hands.

"I guess your right" she said defeated "but I wanted to escort you to your car" Quatre smiled and dropped his hand from her shoulder. 

"Dorothy can escort me, that is, if she wants to" he said looking at Dorothy, she sighed.

"If Miss Relena does not mind" she said looking at Relena. She waved her hand carelessly in the air.

"I don't mind Dorothy" she said, then looked at Quatre, "I hope to see you again soon." she said "but until then, farewell." 

He smiled also, "Farewell Relena, Trowa, my friends I do so hope to see you soon aswell." he turned and, with Dorothy by his side, walked down the hallway that led to the two large main doors. 

Relena watched them until they went out the front doors and then turned to look at Trowa, "I need to inform a few people of what's going on" she stated, Trowa nodded his head in agreement and helped her up from the couch.

Quatre turned to Dorothy as soon as the large door behind them closed. "Good bye Quatre" she said curtly and then turned to go back inside. Quatre reached out and grabbed her upper-arm before she could leave and she turned around in annoyance to glare at him. She opened her mouth to speak but Quatre stopped her by speaking first. 

"You don't have a chance" he said, Dorothy's eyes narrowed and she frowned confused at him. 

"What are you talking about?" she hissed. 

Quatre looked at her almost apologetically, "Trowa, you don't have a chance with him."

Dorothy snarled "What do you know" and wretched her arm free of his grip.

"I just know, trust me on this" he said sadly, Dorothy looked him in the eye, and her glare disappeared.

"Quatre, I know you love Miss Relena, come back as soon as this whole emergency thing is cleared up okay." she smiled at him.

He smiled back, "I'll come back as soon as I can" he said, "but try not to annoy Trowa to much" and Dorothy glared at him defiantly.

"I don't care what you say, I'm not giving up!" 

Quatre smiled, "I didn't think you would, I'll seeya soon Dorothy" he said and got in the limousine. 

"Goodbye Quatre" and she went back into the mansion.


	3. chapter 2

I Will Protect You: part 2

I Will Protect You

Chapter two

Relena descended the stairs carrying a small suit case, a servant walking behind her carrying another two, she looked down at Trowa and Dorothy and smiled sadly.

"Sorry I took so long, are we ready to go?" she said when she reached the bottom. Trowa nodded and picked up one small shoulder bag of belongings he had brought.

"Of course Miss Relena, did you get everything you wanted?" Dorothy asked, her two very large suit cases beside her.

"Yes, thank you Dorothy" she answered, fingering the small torn photograph in her pocket, and stepped down from the last step and stood beside them. 

"Then lets go" Trowa said and picked up one of Dorothy's suit cases, Relena nodded and they all went out to Dorothy's golden limousine. 

__

~at the cabin~

Relena stepped out of the limousine and looked up at the cabin. It had been two days since Quatre left and they had assumed the sooner she got out of her house the better. 

She sighed sadly, it was getting harder and harder for her to stay in control of her emotions. At the mention of his name she would tear up and it got harder and harder to suppress them, and every time she would try, Trowa telling her it was okay to cry would always hover around in her mind and she would tear up all over again. Because of this she had decided to leave all the pictures that reminded her of him at home; she put her hand in her pocket and felt the photograph, but she couldn't leave this one. 

"Miss Relena?" Dorothy called from the front door, Relena looked up at her and smiled.

"Yes Dorothy?" she asked .

"Could you please come up here and unlock the door for me?" Dorothy asked patiently, Relena faked a smile. 

"Oh sure, sorry, I was just thinking about how beautiful this place is" she lied, then hurried up the rock steps to the front porch. Dorothy gave her a look, accusing her of lying, but let it drop. 

Trowa came up the steps carrying one of Relena's small suit cases and one of Dorothy's big ones, he came up beside them and waited for them to unlock and open the door. 

Relena opened the door and stepped aside to let them in, Trowa walked past her carrying his load and Relena instantly disapproved. "Trowa, you shouldn't be carrying all that at once! Here, let me help you" she said and reached for her suit case. Trowa turned to the side, swinging her suit case out of her reach.

"I'm fine" he said, trying to glare at her, she put on a sad face. 

"But I wanna help you" she almost whined, again ignoring the nauseous feeling that suddenly came over her. Trowa's glare softened a bit but he still held both suit cases out of her reach. 

"No" and he turned and walked down the hall towards the main room. Relena stood in the door way a few more seconds, a sudden dizziness washing over her, she clutched the door frame for support and managed to hold herself up.

"Are you alright Miss Relena?" Dorothy asked, Relena looked up at her and immediately attempted to look as though she could stand on her own. She failed miserably, reaching out for the door frame she realized she had pushed herself to far from it in her attempt to stand. She would have fallen, but Dorothy reacted fast and jumped forward, catching her before she hit the floor. She looked down at Relena with an almost bored look as she feinted for the third time in the last three days and began to call for Trowa.

Her eyes fluttered open slowly and she focused on the two faces above her, her eyes widened and she threw herself forward, leaning her head over the side, she proceeded to throw up her breakfast and lunch. Dorothy jumped back, letting go of the trash can she had been holding onto to escape getting any on her and Trowa looked slightly amused as he thought about how happy he was that he was on the other side of the couch.

He held the wet cloth he had been using to wet her face out to her and she excepted it with an embarrassed thank you. She cleaned herself up then moved to stand, but two sets of hands forcefully pushed her back down onto the couch. "Hey, what the…" she looked up to see both Trowa and Dorothy glaring at her, she knew exactly what they we're thinking but she decided to play it dumb. 

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked in an irritated voice, crossing her arms to look annoyed even though inside she was scared. Scared they'd find out and leave her alone, scared of what they would think of her, she tried hard to cover up her fear but it was slowly over taking her.

"This is the third time Relena" Trowa started "and I know for a fact that it's not stress" he said accusingly. Relena tried to push away her fear but it didn't work, a look of knowing suddenly crossed across Dorothy's face before she covered it up, Relena saw it and seemed to sink deeper into the couch. 

Dorothy looked down at Relena, then up at Trowa, sensing she was looking at him, he looked up and met her gaze. "Trowa, could I please have some time alone with Miss Relena?" she asked, he nodded and left the room, leaving Dorothy and Relena alone.

When the door to the kitchen closed behind Trowa, Dorothy turned around and glared at the person sitting on the couch. "Miss Relena you're not-"

"Pregnant" Relena finished for her, Dorothy gulped and nodded, a worried look washing over her face. "Yes" Relena said quietly looking down at her hands folded on one knee, "I am."

"What… since when? How far along are you?" Dorothy asked.

"About three months" she answered.

"Why didn't you tell us!?" Dorothy demanded, furious that Relena didn't trust her enough to tell her something as serious as this. Relena turned her head away so that Dorothy wouldn't see the tears in her eyes. _I'm not going to cry! _She told herself, _I'm not going to cry damnit, not infront of Dorothy. _She managed to hold back her tears and turned around to face Dorothy with a look of desperate determination on her face.

"Miss Relena, why didn't you tell me?" she asked more softly this time, her anger gone and replaced by sympathy.

"I didn't know how" Relena answered slowly. Dorothy tried to smile comfortingly, but Relena had turned her head away again. 

"Miss Relena," she asked as she sat down on the couch beside her, "are you alright?"

"I'm fine Dorothy" Relena answered, but didn't turn to look at her.

"You should tell Trowa" Dorothy suggested, leaning back into the couch, "he wants to help but he can't if he doesn't know what the problem is" Relena turned around and glared at Dorothy.

"What do you mean _problem_!" she snapped, anger evident in her voice.

"I didn't mean it that way Miss Relena" Dorothy said calmly, closed her eyes, and sighed. Relena looked down at her hands and sighed also, _not only am I becoming a cry baby but I'm snappy too _she thought angrily, then turned apologetic.

"I'm sorry Dorothy, I know you didn't mean it to sound that way" she said then looked up at Dorothy to see what she would say.

"It's alright Miss Relena, I'll go now and tell Trowa you wanna talk to him" she said getting up. Relena's eyes widened, _tell Trowa. _

"No wait!" she said desperately, reaching out a hand in Dorothy's direction. Dorothy turned around and looked at her

"Is there something wrong Miss Relena?" she asked. Relena opened her mouth to speak but stopped,_ it would be easier to tell him now _she reasoned _the longer I wait the harder it'll be to tell him and he's gonna find out sooner or later_.

"Never mind Dorothy, it's nothing" she said reluctantly and sat back. 

"Okay then," Dorothy turned and went into the kitchen. Relena closed her eyes and began thinking about the best way to break the news to Trowa.

Dorothy stepped through the kitchen door to find Trowa leaning against the opposite wall, she smiled, trying to imagine what his reaction would be, then frowned slightly when she figured he'd probably take it like he took everything else. _Only one way to find out _she thought and walked up to him. 

Trowa opened his eyes when he heard the kitchen door open, but when he saw it was just Dorothy he closed them again. She walked forward and stood infront of him, he could sense how close she was, almost touching him, _to close _he thought. 

"What do you want?" he asked in a passive, yet slightly annoyed tone, cracking his eyes open just enough to look at her.

"Miss Relena would like to speak with you" she said and smiled, "she has something rather important to say" and then she turned around and left the kitchen by the opposite door. Trowa uncrossed his arms and walked towards the door, opened it, and stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. 

Relena looked up when she heard the door open and felt relief mixed with fear when she saw it was Trowa, any longer and she was sure she would have backed down and came up with some lame excuse for her supposed illness. "Hello Trowa" she greeted with a nervous smile although she covered it up, _why am I so nervous? Trowa's a nice guy, he shouldn't care in the least except maybe be more worried than before about me. _

"Dorothy said you had something important to tell me." Trowa stated, leaning against the wall beside the door and looking at her. Relena looked around, her nervousness somewhat returning suddenly making her feel caged in. 

"I guess you could say that. Um… can we talk out side, I'm a little uncomfortable in here?" she asked. He nodded and they headed out a side door and down another small hallway which also led to their rooms, and out onto the back porch. Relena sat down on the swing _(a/n: you know, that bench like thing that swings back and forth, I couldn't think of any other name but swing)_ and looked out acrossed a wide creek to see lush green trees and grass.

"It's so peaceful out here, I wish I could stay here forever" she said and closed her eyes, listening to the sound of the running water.

Trowa sat down beside Relena almost to slowly, and then turned halfway so that he could see her. "You had something to tell me" he said again, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. Relena sighed, _it's now or never_ she thought and then took a deep breathe, regaining some of her courage that seemed to have been lost due to the weeks unnerving events. 

"I'm pregnant" she said clearly, looking him straight in the eye, which wasn't easy since his head was half turned away from her. For a minute she thought that somehow he hadn't heard her and was about to repeat herself when he turned completely around and looked her straight in the eye, much like she had been trying to do.

She gasped, his eyes were so deep, like Heero's only his held more pain, more secrets, why hadn't she noticed before; and deep within those supposedly emotionless eyes there was a question, a question to many things that had happened in his life that he would never receive the answer to, and he was asking her this question. _Why? _Tears came to her eyes and she couldn't tell if it was the pregnancy or her own emotions that brought them but she knew they were there but didn't have a thought to suppress them.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" he asked. I t was a simple question with a simple answer, all she had to do was repeat what she had told Dorothy, that would be good enough, he wouldn't ask anymore questions and she would leave it at that. But for some reason she felt he deserved more, she didn't think he had done anymore than Dorothy or Quatre in the time he had been there, but she felt he deserved more than such a meaningless lie.

"I just…I was…afraid" she said softly, closing her eyes, she couldn't stand the intensity of his anymore, the only time she had seen emotion that strong was the night Heero had proposed to her. She couldn't, she wanted to run, run anywhere, just away from his eyes, the pain, the suffering, the sadness, she couldn't stand it. Yet she couldn't run, something in her made her stay, not because she felt she owed him something, but because she had this feeling, she didn't know what it was, but it was genuine, a knowing that he was important to her's and her soon to be child's future.

A hand touched her face and gently wiped away a tear that had managed to escape, she opened her eyes to find deep green ones so close, the emotion still there but now it held an almost gentle glow. She was paralyzed, she couldn't move, couldn't turn away, all she could do was stare into those deep forest green eyes, she opened her mouth to say something but was silenced by his finger on her lips.

"There's no reason to be afraid, I won't leave as long as you need me" he said and then backed away and closed his eyes. Relena was snapped out of her trance when he sat back and closed his eyes, hiding them form her view, she mentally shook her head, trying to clear it of strange feelings she shouldn't be feeling.

Dorothy silently fumed on the other side of the sliding glass door, well silently enough, every few minutes she'd mutter a word or two and then fall silent again. _He can't like her! _ She screamed at herself while watching the scene that was playing out before her. Trowa leaned over and wiped a tear away from Relena's eye, and much to Dorothy's anger, lingered there a little longer than needed. She couldn't hear the words but she could see them clearly enough and she didn't much like what she saw, for a minute she thought they would kiss by the way they were looking at each other and was more than relieved when Trowa pulled back. 

She was practically jumping for joy to say the least, _he doesn't like her, he doesn't like her _she chanted over and over in her mind, trying to convince herself of what she was saying. She stopped, _I used to think Relena had been immature when I heard about her chasing Heero when she was younger, but look at me, _she mused quietly_ I'm eighteen and completely obsessed over some guy I barely know._

She looked towards the two people sitting on the bench swing and smiled, but it faded quickly and her jealously returned.

Relena glanced up at Trowa as he stood and offered her his hand, she looked down at it, and then up into to his eyes. "It's starting to get cold, we should get back inside, we can't have you getting sick in your condition" he said, a small smile playing on his lips. Relena lifted an eyebrow in confusion, _why is he smiling? _She thought, she'd never seen Trowa smile and wondered what had been worthy enough for him to smile at? She brushed her thoughts aside and took his hand, a smile coming to her lips aswell. 

He pulled her gently to her feet and held her hand a little longer than he should have in her opinion, but assumed it was just to make sure she got her balance. But when he put his arm around her waist and started to guide her to the sliding glass door, she began to feel uneasy. 

Dorothy was on the other side of the door, Relena mentally cringed at the look she was trying to smother, pure rage, why was she so mad, the she remembered something. She gasped loudly _Dorothy likes Trowa!!! _she screamed in her mind and unconsciously pulled away from Trowa, he looked down at her then stepped forward and opened the sliding glass door. 

He gestured with his hand for her to go in first and she stepped past him and full into the glaring Dorothy, who quickly covered it up with a tight smile. This made Relena mad, she didn't know why, she had concealed her anger and frustration many times, and she figured this should be one of those times. "Hello Miss Relena, did you tell him your little secret?" she asked with honeyed sweetness, although her eyes flashed. Relena lost what little control over her emotions she had, and slapped Dorothy as hard as she could, her head jerked to the side, Trowa stood behind her, wide eyed. Relena smiled proudly on the inside _I surprised him_, she thought but her eyes stayed fixed on Dorothy who was now trying _not_ to glare at her. She leaned forward so her nose was almost touching the platinum blonde's, "Don't be a hypocrite Dorothy" she said low, almost threateningly, then stood up straight again, and then, as if to mock her, she grabbed Trowa's hand and led him out of the hall. 

Dorothy stood in the hall way, her hand involuntarily held her now sore cheek, her eyes welled up with tears and she cursed herself for getting so emotional. She turned and ran into the room she had chosen for herself, slammed the door, and threw herself on the bed. Remembering how Trowa had just stood off to the side, making no attempt to stop Relena, and when she had dragged him down the hall he even had a somewhat grateful look on his face. She immediately made up her mind that she hated him and began to beat her pillow in frustration.

Relena let go of Trowa's hand, and began to cry, he looked at her confused, not knowing what was wrong with her. He reached out a hand and lightly touched her shoulder but she shrugged it off gently, and turned away from him, "Relena, what's wrong?" he asked concerned. 

She turned around and looked at him, "I shouldn't have slapped her, I had no right to" she said angry at herself, _stupid mood swings _she scolded inwardly. Then wondered if she should blame the mood swings that come with pregnancy or the actual fact that that was something she had been wanting to for a long, _long_ time.

"She had it coming" Trowa assured her, putting a hand on her shoulder comfortingly, she shrugged it off again, but this time smiled slightly and asked him to join her for a quick tv diner and an old western movie. He nodded and they headed to the kitchen to fix their meal.

Quatre, with his suit case packed, stood infront of a small car, he was about to get in when a heavy hand fell on his shoulder.

"Leaving again Master Quatre?" Rasheed asked. 

Quatre nodded "I promised Heero I would help protect Relena," he said, Rasheed removed his hand and nodded approvingly.

"There'll be no more minor distractions, Master Quatre" he said, "goodbye" and he stepped back to allow Quatre some space. 

Quatre smiled gratefully, everyone was so nice and understanding. "Thank you Rasheed, I'll come back soon, goodbye." He threw his suit case into the passenger side and got into the drivers seat, waved and, with one last goodbye, sped away from the mansion and towards the airport. 


	4. chapter 3

****

I Will Protect You part 3

Ssj_hotaru

AN: this is the last chapter and as you all know if you've been reading this whole story; Relena's pregnant, so that pretty much means she's gotta have the kid some time. And I'm not very good at describing that kind of stuff, more importantly I can't describe that kinda stuff. I'm the youngest of three so I've never dealt with a pregnant mother or any woman in my family so I have no idea. So when ever she has the kid I'm not gonna be descriptive got it.

with that through, please enjoy the story. 

Relena slowly opened her eyes, it was bright outside,she leaned up, and running a hand through her hair, she looked around. She was in a bed room, _how did I get in here? _She thought, _I don't remember going to bed?_ Then she remembered, she had been sitting on the couch with Trowa making fun of some old black and white movie, _I must have fallen asleep _she thought and then got up to take a shower.

When she was done she put on a thin long sleeve blouse and a pair of loose sweats, then got down on her knees infront of her suitcases and began to unpack. After putting all her cloths away, she found two picture frames at the bottom, one was of her brother and Noin, she smiled at how happy they looked and set the picture on her dresser by the bed. She picked up the other frame and turned it over to look at it, no picture, she wondered for a moment why she would pack an empty frame, and then got an idea. She ran into the bathroom and dug into the pockets of the pants she was wearing yesterday, coming back out with an old crumpled picture, she carefully placed it behind the glass.

She held the picture in her hands and stared down at it, remembering the day she got it, the memory brought tears to her eyes.

~*flashback*~

Relena and Heero are sitting on her bed looking through a photo album

"Oh look Heero, look at this one isn't it cute" she said pointing to a picture. It was of a little boy with a braid the hang just past his shoulders, he was sitting on a rock and there was a nun hugging him from behind.

"That's Duo, how did you get a picture of him?" he asked

"I asked him" she answered as she turned the page, "oh! Look at this one, it's just adorable" she squealed. Showing him a picture of a girl with red curly hair holding onto a boy's shirt, forcing him to stay still while someone took the picture, the boy had light brown hair that hung in his face and his arms were crossed.

"Is that Trowa, I didn't know he had any pictures of himself when he was younger" Heero said.

"Heero, I just realized something" Relena said flipping through the album.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I don't have a picture of you" she looked up at him, "do you have any?"

"Well, I have one" he said slowly, reaching his hand into his pocket and pulling out a small picture, "here, put this one in there" and he handed it to her.

She looked at the picture, the corners were torn and it was faded slightly from years of being handled but she could still see the two people clearly. There was a boy with dark brown hair and the most brilliant blue eyes, he was kneeling down beside a girl. She had sandy brown, and striking green eyes, the boy was helping her stand, to Relena this was the cutest of all.

"Oh Heero, you were such cute little boy" then she paused, "but who is this?" she asked pointing to the little girl in the picture.

"That's my sister" he said, looking down at his hands.

"You never told me you had a sister" Relena said trying to look him in the eyes.

"She died the night this picture was taken" he stated.

"Oh, I'm sorry Heero, I didn't mean to…"

"Don't be, it's in the past" he said cutting her off.

"What was her name?" she asked, looking back down at the picture sadly.

"Ayame" he answered softly while getting up off the bed, he walked out onto the balcony and looked up at the stars.

"Ayame" she repeated softly "well this is to precious to just stick in a photo album" she looked at the picture and gently placed it into the drawer beside her bed, then she got up to join Heero on the balcony.

~*end flashback*~

Relena sniffled, a few tears running down her cheeks, _that was the night before Heero left for his mission, the night before he died_ she thought sadly, bringing on a new flood of tears to stream down her face. 

She wiped them away, "all this depression can't be good for you" she said putting her hand on her still flat belly and smiling sadly. "Your half of Heero, did you know that? when your born, I'll make sure you know about him and never forget that your father was a good man" she whispered and stood up, placing the picture beside the other one, she walked towards the door. 

She opened it to see Trowa with his hand raised, ready to knock, she smiled at him and asked "good morning, is there something you need Trowa?" He dropped his hand and looked at her.

"No, I just came to see if you were awake or not" he said, stepping out of her way when she closed the door behind her.

"I'm awake" she said, then walked past him and started down the hall, he turned and followed.

As they walked past the front door on their way to the kitchen for breakfast, the doorbell rang, Relena looked towards it confused, "are we expecting anybody?" she asked.

"No" he answered and took out his gun, moving behind the wall, he motioned for Relena to open the door. _Paranoid _she thought as she opened it, she was surprised at who she saw standing there.

"Quatre!" she said happily and hugged him, he hugged her back. Trowa came out from behind the wall, putting his gun away, and nodded a greeting to him. Dorothy came out from the kitchen to see who was here and was more than happy to see Quatre. 

They headed into the main room and sat down on the couch, Dorothy sat down on one side of Quatre, and Relena sat down on the other side, Trowa leaned against the back between Quatre and Relena. 

"So Quatre, what was the emergency?" Relena asked, Quatre looked over at her.

"Nothing my sisters couldn't handle" he answered.

"What took ya so long?" Dorothy asked, Quatre smiled.

"The circus was in town" he answered and smiled even wider.

"Did you see Catharine?" Trowa asked.

"Yep, her and Duo went out on a date the night before I left too" he said, smiling even wider than before.

"I never knew they were together" Relena said smiling, Quatre shrugged.

"Neither did I"

"So do you know where Wufei is?" Dorothy asked, everyone looked at her.

"Uh, last I heard he went back to the L2 colony" Quatre answered, looking at Dorothy strangly.

Relena opened her mouth to say something but her stomach growled first, everyone looked at her and she blushed a light pink. "Guess I'm hungry" she said, they all laughed and headed to the kitchen for something to eat.

~* 4 1/2 months later*~

She walked down the hall towards the back door, it was midnight again and she couldn't sleep. She had woken up, and like every night for the past four months, threw up her dinner, usually she would go back to sleep but tonight she couldn't, so here she was headed for the back door.

She carefully slid open the sliding glass door and stepped onto the porch, she thought about turning on the porch light, but after looking up at the sky to see a beautiful silver moon, she decided against it. She slid the door closed behind her and went to sit on the bench, she stopped though, looking down by the creek on a patch of lush green grass, was a doe. She looked closer, there was a person down there petting it and she took a step forward to get a better look at the person's face.

"Trowa" she whispered, he looked at her surprised and then stood up, the deer looked from him to Relena and then bounded off into the forest. Trowa watched it go, and then walked the steps up to where Relena was standing. "How did you do that? She asked, looking up at him as he stood infront of her, he shrugged and stepped around her to sit down on the swing. 

"What are you doing up?" he asked, "your supposed to be resting, we have to go to your doctors appointment early this morning." Relena looked down at her feet, or rather her toes, the rest of her feet and legs were completely hidden by the swell of her belly, she sighed. 

"I couldn't sleep" she answered and looked back up at him, he looked down at the space next to him and she walked over and sat beside him.

"Why not?" he asked, looking down at her worriedly, she looked up at him.

"I think, but it hurts to" she answered innocently, her eyes filling up with tears, "please, I don't want it to hurt anymore" she said, before bringing her hands up to her face and crying, Trowa placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Relena, if it didn't hurt I'd be worried about you" he said quietly, she turned to look at him, curious as to what he meant, but soon brushed it aside as unimportant. She wiped away her tears and tried to stifle a yawn, suddenly she felt tired, Trowa saw this, and stood up, offering her his hand. She took it and he pulled her to her feet and then walked with her to her room. "Get some sleep" he told her and then walked back to his room, Relena watched him go into his room and then quietly shut her door and went back to her bed, she fell asleep almost as soon her head hit the pillow. Before succumbing to sleep she was thinking that that was the second time Trowa had cured her insomnia. .

~*3 months later*~

Relena rolled out of bed, and went into the bathroom to take a shower, when she was done she got dressed and sat back down on the bed for her morning conversation with the baby inside her. After she was done, she wobbled out of her room and towards the kitchen for something to eat.

Trowa, Quatre, and Dorothy were already sitting at the table with their cups of coffee, Quatre looked up as Relena came into the kitchen. He got up and went around the table and pulled out a chair beside Dorothy, Relena thanked him and sat down. Trowa got up and brought her a cup of warm tea, Relena excepted it with a 'thank you' and smiled warmly at everyone, even Dorothy who had forgiven her for slapping her that day.

Relena finished eating and reached out for her dishes, she was about to pick them up but Quatre came up behind her and grabbed them before she could get them off the table. 

"I'll get those" he said, and put the dishes in the sink for her, "why don't you go for a walk, the doctor did say you needed more exercise." Relena looked at him weirdly, then sighed. 

"Fine, I'll go for ANOTHER walk" she said and stood up, walking over to the refrigerator where she knew there was a bag full of picnic food.

"I'll stay and help Quatre with the dishes" Dorothy announced, also getting up. Quatre looked to Trowa who seemed to busy looking at his coffee. Feeling Quatre's eyes on him he sighed.

"I'll go with Relena" he said standing up and walking out of the room with her, leaving his cup on the table.

Relena and Trowa walked down the short hallway that led to the front door, he grabbed her jacket and helped her put it on and then put his on and they headed out the door and down a trail they had discovered early in their stay at the secluded cabin. 

It was cold in the mornings, but by early noon it began to get hot, and by the time it was one thirty P.M. they had their jackets tied around their waist. They came to a small pond, not very deep, Trowa and Relena spread out their coats and sat down, Relena got out the bag of food and they had a small lunch. After a few minutes of meaningless conversation, Relena decided to cool off, it had gotten hotter and the water looked so inviting. She kicked off her shoes and rolled her pant legs up before stepping into the cold, refreshing pond. Trowa watched her intently, making sure she didn't slip or anything else. She sighed happily and knelt down to get her hair wet, and then swung her head backwards, her hair flew over her head like a whip, leaving a trail of water in the air.

She heard a grunt from behind her and turned around to see a slightly wet Trowa and giggled, he attempted to glare at her, but with her eyes closed it was hardly threatening. 

He thought a minute and then put his hand in the water and splashed her. She shrieked and turned around and glared at him, he smirked evilly back at her. She reached a hand down to splash him back but the rock she was standing on slid out from underneath her and she started to fall backwards. Trowa's smirk quickly faded and he jumped up from where he had been sitting and caught her, marking a big splash and soaking both of them.

Relena looked up at him, he looked down at her, Relena smirked and splashed him, she laughed and got herself out of his grasp and backed away. Trowa silently got out of the water and sat on the grass, attempting to dry off with his jacket, Relena frowned. 

"Oh Trowa, your no fun, smile" she said smiling widely, "come on, if a pregnant woman can do it than I'm sure you can" and she spun away from him. Suddenly she grabbed her stomach and doubled over, she gave a grunt of pain and Trowa looked up at her, his eyes worried, he stood up and walked back into he water where she was standing. He put a hand on her shoulder, she looked up at him confused, then she remembered her check up with the doctor three days ago.

~*flashback*~ 

Relena is sitting on a very uncomfortable bed talking to a doctor.

"Miss Relena, everything seems to be normal, the baby should be due any day now" the doctor said with a smile and put the clip board under his arm.

"Thank you" Relena said and got off the bed.

"If anything weird happens you call me, here's my office, home, and cell number" he said handing her a piece of paper with three different phone numbers on it. She looked them over before sticking it in her purse, and leaving the room.

~*end flashback*~ 

Relena gasped in realization, Trowa, mistaking it to be a gasp of pain, bent his head down on her shoulder. "Are you alright?" he asked calmly, Relena turned her head and looked at him and smiled shakily.

"Trowa, I think I'm going into labor" she said clearly and stood up straight, "we need to get back to the cabin" and she got out of the water, he nodded and followed her out. He picked up their jackets and carried it with him as they started walking down the trail and back to the cabin.

When they reached the cabin, Trowa helped Relena to the couch and called for Quatre. Relena gave him a piece of paper with three phone numbers on it and tolled him to call all three until he reached her doctor, Quatre nodded and ran out of the room to make a few phone calls. Trowa stayed by Relena's side to make sure he was okay as Dorothy got Quatre's car ready to take Relena to the hospital.

"Relena!, your doctor is on his way to the hospital right now, we better get going" Quatre yelled coming into the room Relena and Trowa were in. Relena nodded and started to stand, Trowa jumped to his feet immediately help her up, keeping her hand in a firm grip, he led her out the front door and to Quatre's car.

The speedy drive to the hospital was silent, everyone keeping to their own thoughts, when they arrived at the hospital, Trowa helped Relena out of the back seat while Quatre and Dorothy got out of the front. They entered the hospital and Relena was immediately sat in a wheel chair and rushed to the maternity ward. A nurse grabbed Trowa and started to drag him along after her towards the room they were taking Relena, he glanced back at Quatre pleadingly only to receive a smile and a thumbs up. He attempted to glare but the nurse drug him around a corner and out of their site. 

Quatre smiled at Dorothy who smiled back, he reached out for her hand and they both headed over to the counter where a nurse was calling for them to sign some papers. 

The nurse gave Trowa a blue plastic gown and tolled him to put it on before turning to look for something, he stood there, giving her a strange look. She turned back around to find that he hadn't even started to get it on, she glared at him, "aren't you gonna put it on" she demanded.

"Why?" he said shrugging.

"Because you need it to go into the delivery room" she said sending him a more intense glare.

"Why am I going in there?" he asked, a slight look of fear and confusion washing over his face.

"Well aren't you the father?" she asked, cocking her head to the side. Trowa's eyes widened and his face turned a shade whiter although his cheeks were stained a pale pink, he tried desperately to cover it up.

"No" he said simply, "close friend" he answered the question lingering on her lips before she could ask it.

She cleared her throat "so you're not going to be in there with her" she stated rather than asked. Trowa looked down at the plastic gown in his hands and sighed.

"Since I'm already here" he answered, feeling as though he would regret it either way he went, and put the gown on over his clothes and swiftly turned back up to face the nurse. "As long as I don't have to help!" he said sternly. 

The nurse giggled, "of course you don't have to help, your just there for moral support" and she guided him down the long hall of closed doors till they got to Relena's room.

~*3 painful and very loud hours later*~

The cry of a new born baby could be heard through out the maternity ward and graced the ears of the nurses passing by on their way to clean rooms or bring food to other patients. 

"Congratulations Miss Peacecraft, it's a healthy baby girl" the doctor tolled her happily after he cut the umbilical cord and had wrapped it up in a blanket. He handed the baby to a nurse who carefully walked around the bed and gently placed the baby in Relena's out stretched arms. Trowa sighed happily when he realized Relena had released his hand from her death grip in her desire to hold her baby. He stood up from the floor where he had been curled into a painful ball, and looked over the bed at the baby Relena held protectively in her arms.

She looked down at the baby whose eyes were closed tightly, she smiled warmly at the child and stroked her small head of sandy brown hair. She moved her hand from her head to her cheek and tapped it lightly "open your eyes pretty one" she whispered softly, as if understanding her wish, the baby opened her eyes to reveal brilliant green orbs. Relena gasped, she had been expecting cobalt blue, and wondered where her child would get green eyes, then she remembered the picture and she smiled wider than before.

She saw a hand reach out to touch the baby's hair, Relena jerked her head in the direction in which the hand had come from and found Trowa. He was watching her intently, a warm look in his eyes and a small smile on his lips. She smiled also and scooted over in his direction so he could see her daughter more clearly. 

He laughed out loud when the baby frown at him and Relena's smile spread, "already so much like my dear Heero" she said softly stroking the baby's soft tufts of hair. A nurse came in with a clip board and walked to the side of the bed opposite of Trowa and took a pen from her shirt. She smiled at Relena and asked kindly.

"Have you decided on a name?" Relena looked down at the baby in her arms, a distant look coming to her eyes but she shook it quickly when she felt Trowa's intense eyes boring holes into her. She smiled even wider as she replied "Ayame, Ayame Yuy" and kissed the baby's forehead. The nurse nodded approvingly as she wrote the name down on a form on her clip board and then started to exit the room.

She stopped in the door and turned around to look at the three left in the room, "I'll be back later to pick up the baby and take her to the nursery" she said kindly and then she left, closing the door behind her.

Trowa kneeled down and laid a hand gently on the girl's head, he smiled softly and made a promise "I will protect you" he said softly. Then looked up into Relena's eyes and moved the hand from the baby's head to her cheek, she shuddered but made no move to push it away. Trowa, thinking it was neither the place nor the time, leaned over the bed and softly brushed his lips acrossed hers, her eyes widened in surprise, but again she didn't push him away. Testing his luck, he pressed his lips against hers ever so slightly, her eyes became even bigger and she brought one hand up and placed it on his chest. 

"Trowa…" she whispered against his lips, he pulled back and looked down at her, she smiled apologetically and removed her hand from his chest. "I'm not ready yet, I need more time" she whispered, he nodded knowingly and kneeled back down by the bed. 

"I'll wait "he said so quietly she almost didn't hear it, but she did, and she smiled sweetly, and picked up her baby lovingly. Trowa watched as she hugged the baby to her, she looked sideways at him and smiled even wider.

"Do you want to hold her?" she asked, moving so the baby's back was facing him. 

Sudden fear over came him and his eyes widened "what if I hurt her?" he asked as he held out his arms to receive the baby that Relena was handing him.

"You wont hurt her " she said moving his arms so that he was holding her right, "there you go, just like that" she let go of his arms and ran a hand gently over the girls face.

Suddenly the door burst open and Relena's hand jerked back in surprise, Trowa immediately held the baby protectively to his chest and glared at the intruder.

"Duo!!" Relena shrieked happily, she held out her arms to hug him since she couldn't get up from the bed. With a huge smile plastered on his face, Duo happily embraced his long time friend. Cathrine came through the door behind Duo and now stood beside her brother, she kneeled down beside Trowa and held the baby's small hand in her own. She smiled longingly at the little girl and unconsciously moved a hand down her side to lay on the slight swell of her own belly. 

Trowa's eyes followed her hand and his eyes widened, "Cathy, your not…" he couldn't finish the sentence, Cathrine followed his eyes and realized what Trowa meant. She looked up at Relena and Trowa and smiled a small embarrassed smile, Duo looked the other way, his hand behind his head, and laughed a little nervously. Quatre and Dorothy came into the room carrying a laptop computer, they set it down on the bed infront of Relena and opened it. The screen went from blank to show a girl with light blue eyes and shoulder length black hair, she smiled widely, Relena smiled too.

"Hilde, it's been awhile, I see you finally let your hair grow out" Relena exclaimed happily. 

Hilde's smile widened "I heard you had your baby, can I see 'em?" she asked eagerly.

"Of course" she said turning the com so that Hilde could see the baby girl that Trowa had in his arms. Hilde shrieked over how cute she was and they talk for awhile, mostly Hilde asking questions about the baby and Relena answering them.

Cathrine sighed thankfully, glade that all their attention was on Relena and Hilde's conversation. Of course not everyones attention was on the conversation, no matter how hard she tried to ignore him, her brother's forest green eyes made her uncomfortable and she fidgeted, trying to shake off the feeling that he was accusing her of something. 

"Oh, I wish I was there to hold her, she's just so adorable" Hilde said regrettably.

Relena smiled "you'll get your chance to hold her" reaching towards Trowa for her baby, he took his eyes off Cathrine and handed hesitantly handed the baby over to her mother. His eyes lingering longer than needed before returning to stare unwavering at his sister. 

Finally she couldn't take it anymore, Cathrine stood up, shooting a 'don't try and stop me' glare at Duo who had taken a step forward, and asked for everyones attention. When she was sure they were all paying attention, even Hilde who had been turned so that she could see Cathrine as well, she took a deep breath, "I'm pregnant" she said and closed her eyes. 

Every one was silent for a moment, shock evident on every face but Duo's, who happened to be blushing furiously. After what seemed like eternity to Cathrine, Relena smiled and held out her arms to her, she smiled in return and walked into Relena's welcoming embrace. Hilde cheered over the com, and, was that Wufei she was calling? Sure sounded like it. Everyone turned to look at the com as Hilde started yelling angrily at someone off the screen. Everyone laughed when she had dragged Wufei into the room and forced him to talk to his friends. 

They stayed there until the nurse came and took little Ayame like she had said and suggested to everyone that Relena needed her rest. They all said their good byes, and promised to come and see her tomorrow when she got out of the hospital, and then filed out of the hospital room. Cathrine lingered behind, giving Relena one last hug and saying her good byes to her brother who had asked to stay until Relena fell asleep, and then she to joined the others in departure.

After a few minutes of silence Relena turned to Trowa and smiled sleepily, she reached her hand across the bed to where Trowa's hand was and intertwined her fingers with his. She laid her back, placing her head comfortably on the pillow and let her eyes fall shut, half asleep she parted her lips and whispered. "Thank you" and then she was fully overcome by exhaustion as her head drooped to the side, she breathed softly, her fingers loosening slightly in sleep.

Trowa leaned back over the bed, bringing his face only inches from hers, his hovering over her forehead, he could feel her warm breath tickling his neck and sending chills down his spine. Ignoring the sensation he leaned in closer, his lips touching her face. "I will protect you Relena" he whispered softly, "for as long as I live, I will protect you" and he stood straight again walked to the door, casting a loving glance back into the dark room and at an angelic face covered in moonlight. 

"I will always protect you" he promised quietly and then silently shut the door behind him, leaving her in the room alone with his words still echoing through the wind like music, her lips parted and she sighed happily and single name escaped from her dreams. 

"Trowa"

AN: well what did ya think

Good? Bad? Who knows? 

I wont unless you review, please do

I hope you enjoyed my fic I cause I really enjoyed writing it

Please review I can't wait to hear what you have to say

OUTTY

~*ssj_hotaru*~ 


	5. epolouge

I Will Protect You

I Will Protect You

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Epilogue

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2 years after little Ayame was born

Relena looked at the elegant white dress in the full length mirror and giggled, the top of the dress was a tight tank top fashion, and the bottom was lose and embroidered with pale pink petals. Cathrine looked up at her friend from where she kneeled and smiled sweetly.

"Nervous?" she asked in a teasing tone.

"Not at all" Relena answered, moving the top half of her body so she could see the back of her dress.

"Trowa wont be able to wait until the honeymoon when he sees you" Cathrine commented, Relena smiled widely and began daydreaming about her soon to be husband. 

Hilde was arranging the flowers for Relena, and Cathrine had gone back to making sure that the dress was perfect when a little girl about two years old came running in to the room excitedly, her long, sandy brown hair was in a crown on top of her head with little curls falling down, framing her face, her dancing green eyes searched the room till she found the one she had been looking for.

"Auntie Cathy, Auntie Cathy" she said jumping up and down excitedly, her dress moving with her as she tugged on Cathrine's arm.

"What is it A-chan?" she asked looking at the little girls eager face.

"Is Blake-chan here?" she asked, looking around the room.

"He's around here somewhere, but you'll have to wait until the ceremony's over before you can play" Cathrine said smiling and picked the little girl up to sit her down on a chair beside her mother. She felt something hard beneath her fingers and reached into Ayame's bow and pulled out a water pistol. 

"What's this for?" she asked suspiciously, fingering the brightly colored plastic. Ayame blushed and looked around the room innocently.

"I wonder how dat got there?" she said trying with her index finger on her chin to appear as though she was thinking. Cathrine sighed and Relena suppressed a laugh; Hilde couldn't help but smile at the innocent face of the child, they all knew very well who she'd been planning to use that water gun on. Hilde smiled even wider as she thought about all the trouble she'd caused in her short life, _definitely not as innocent as she looked_, her eyes became unfocused as she remembered an incident from the day before.

__

~*flashback*~

Hilde and Cathrine had been visiting Relena, helping her make some last minute changes, they could see the kids in the other room clearly.

Blake Maxwell was walking across the room towards the television with a glass of water when he spotted Ayame coloring in a coloring book. A mischievous smirk spread acrossed his face and he crept up behind her.

Ayame turned to look at who was behind her and was more than surprised when she was soaked with ice cold water. She shrieked and glared up at the boy with the braid that stood above her smiling innocently, "Are you comfor`ble" he asked as if it had been a good deed. In a rage, her hand reached past the crayon box and grabbed a pair of scissors, Blake's eyes widened when he saw the glimmering silver and he immediately broke out into a full run, he didn't even get halfway across the room before he had been yanked back by his braid. 

His eyes widened in fear "Ayame pwease, no!" he screamed, before he could react the braid that once reached his shoulder blades, now fell in soft strands just below his chin.

"Comfor`ble?" she asked as sardonically as a two year old could, before Hilde and Cathrine had reached her and quickly pulled the scissors from her hand. 

__

~*end flashback*~

Hilde laughed out loud at the memory, which cause everyone to look at her strangely.

"Hello, Miss Relena?" everyone looked toward the door way to find Dorothy standing their in a pale pink dress, and a huge smile plastered on her face. "They're anxious to begin the ceremony, are you ready?" she asked, Relena smiled and looked down at Cathrine who nodded.

"Yes Dorothy," she answered, "I'm ready."

"Okay then" Dorothy bowed her head and quickly left the room.

"Her eyebwows scare me, why don't she pwuck um?" Ayame asked after Dorothy had left, Cathrine and Hilde both rolled their eyes and smiled.

"Now A-chan, we mustn't make fun of Dorothy's eyebrows, she probably likes them that way" Relena said stepping down from the stand she had been standing on and straightening the little girls bow.

"But no body else likes um like dat" she said jumping down off the chair she had been standing on. Relena giggled and handed her daughter and basket full of cherry blossoms before pushing her ahead of her and signaling for Hilde and Cathrine to follow.

__

*****

After the wedding they all went to the reception at Relena's mansion, Quatre made his speech as best man, and everybody gave them their blessings. Relena looked around the table at all her closest friends and the huge smile that had been on her face all day widened; she couldn't believe the turn of events.

Quatre sat beside Silvia Noventa, they had been married three weeks before; apparently they met when she came in for an interview to become his secretary and had been very close ever since. She looked at the two kids beside her, one was her little Ayame and the other was Blake Maxwell, both two years old. Then she looked up at Cathrine and Duo who were holding hands and smiling at each other, seemingly oblivious that there were other people in the room. She saw a glimmer and looked to the ring on Cathrine's hand, they had been married for nearly two years now. _Who would have thought Duo would commit _she mused and then moved on to the next couple. Wufei and Hilde, they were arguing, but no one took their arguments seriously, it was just their way of showing affection for each other. Relena could have laughed at how they met if it wasn't serious, definitely not your normal boy meets girl, but this was definitely not your normal couple either.

She looked over at her brother and Noin, their daughter Kirya beside them, she watched lovingly as Milliardo placed a hand on Noin's round stomach. They had been informed the week before that they were having twins and were overjoyed, although Milliardo did pass out when he first heard. She glanced at the next couple, it was Dorothy, she sat quietly, Relena assumed she was listening to every one else's conversation, the man she was with, her fiancé, was one of Quatre's Maguanac friends. _(Maguanac? Moguanec? Magui- screw it!)_ He appeared to be engrossed in a conversation with Quatre, from what she had picked up, it was about the war but Relena didn't really care to listen. The war was over and for that she was glad, it had been just over two years since the last rebellion was wiped out, and she didn't want to dig up any of the memories, especially on her wedding day. 

She turned to look at Trowa as he squeezed her hand, he glanced up the stairs and then back at her, Relena caught the message and politely excused the both of them from the table. She giggled as all her friends whistled and laid her head on Trowa's shoulder, they continued walking up the stairs towards their bedroom. 

A figure hid in the shadows, a scowl on her face, turned her head away from the happy couple going up the stairs, to the little girl who's sandy brown hair was released from it's crown and now cascaded down her back. The woman watched intently as the girl played with the boy beside her, and an apologetic smile spread acrossed her lips. 

"The little Ayame Yuy huh… can't wait to meet you" she whispered to herself, reaching a hand up and brushing sandy brown strands of hair out of brilliant green eyes.

"Miss Lowe, we better get upstairs, before we're found" a man dressed as a butler said, taking a gun out of his pants pocket and keeping it close to his side incase it's use was needed. 

"I suppose we should, have you seen any signs of the assassins?" she asked, he shook his head and she followed him down a hall and through an office door that lead directly to the security room.

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~*1 year later*~

Relena looked down at the bundle in her arms and smiled softly; Trowa leaned over her from his seat beside the hospital bed and pulled a corner of the light blue blanket down. The baby turned ice blue eyes on him and reached a small hand up, Relena's smile widened and she let the baby grab her finger and then giggled. "What do you think we should name him Trowa?" she asked looking over at him.

Trowa shrugged, "I don't know, what do you have in mind?" he replied, lifting his gaze from his son to his wife. 

"I think Trent fits him perfectly" she said, looking back down at the baby in her arms, she felt Trowa wrap an arm around her shoulders and pull her closer, she rested her head on his shoulder and they both looked down at the baby. 

"Then Trent it is" Trowa whispered and moved a hand through what little hair the baby had. The door opened with a creek and Trowa and Relena looked up to see everyone smiling, their own children beside them. 

"Mommy!" Ayame said happily and ran to the bedside, she lifted up her arms and Trowa picked her up and placed her on his lap so that she could see her new half-brother. Blake walked in beside Cathrine and leaned over the other side of the bed, trying see what everyone was so excited about. Duo came up behind him and lifted him up so that he could see; Blake wrinkled his nose and opened his mouth to say something, but his mothers glare stopped him. 

Quatre and Silvia came in next, Quatre had his hands around her shoulders supporting her, and she looked a little annoyed but seemed to be putting up with it. Silvia sat in the chair beside the bed and sighed happily, placing a hand contently on her slightly round stomach, she was barely 4 1/2 months pregnant and seemed to be exhausted. 

Milliardo and Noin came in after with their oldest daughter beside them and each carrying one child, both boys, both cute as could be. _Cody and Zachary Peacecraft _Relena thought _such perfect names…_ she let her thoughts drop when she heard arguing from the doorway and realized Wufei and Hilde were there. They were arguing about where they would live when they got married, the earth or colony L2, ever since Wufei had actually proposed to her they had been carrying on arguments such as these. Hilde wanted to become a house wife, start a family and move to the earth to be closer to all her friends since they lived on the earth. Wufei wanted to stay in outer space claiming it was where he was born and he would be dishonoring himself if he didn't die there. 

"Well when you're dying, we came put you on a craft and ship you to outer space so you can die alright!" Hilde said, and then turned and looked at Relena, a smile spread acrossed her face and she jumped to the side of the bed with a squeal. "Oh Relena, he's so cute!" she exclaimed, Relena laughed at her friend.

Dorothy and her husband came in and they all sat and talked about stuff, the nurse came in and took the baby to the nursery. After awhile they all left and Relena slipped in to a peaceful sleep, dreaming about her future with her husband and two children.

And every one (most likely) lived happily ever after

The End 


	6. HI

**_Thank you for reading this fic!  Have a nice day and a great summer!_**


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